How to ruin the original

Episode 15

The placement of this year’s freshman class of magic students was so good that the professors said it was blessed by the goddess Kirelia.

There were no children from politically feuding families, no parents who were very keen on their children’s education, no imperials or high nobles of near-imperial status who were hard to keep out of sight, and!

And then there was Nigel Asse, a child she had interviewed herself.

Nigel Asse was a celebrity among the faculty before he was even admitted.

No wonder, he’d gotten a perfect score from Professor Cladian, who was so demanding that he’d gone over every single piece of research in his essays!

Although he tries to treat all students equally, whether in class or not, he can’t help but feel for his undergraduate student.

Humans are creatures of adaptation, and while my coworkers would berate my department for being the number one cause of accidents on campus, they would laugh when their department won.

At the beginning of the semester, when professors would bet on which department would win, everyone would raise the stakes, but no one would bet on a department that wasn’t mine. Not even that protractor, Cladian!

Under these circumstances, Jerez was proud of Nigel. No, he couldn’t help but be proud.

In the past few years, when he’d gone to the faculty lounge to process the incident and take a breather, he’d had to listen to his fellow professor brag about it. So he’d often left the free refreshments and gone back to his lab.

…… But this time was different.

“Did you guys have a good dinner?”

Jerez burst through the door of the faculty lounge.

“Jerez, last year you were a goner every day, but this year you’re blushing.”

“Yes, Professor Jerez, last year you were rarely seen in the common room.”

“Aww, when did I ever do that?”

Jerez sits down on the couch, unable to contain his laughter.

The couch was extra fluffy today, like it had been under a shape-preserving spell during vacation.

Sigh.

This was the Imperial Academy after all, so the tea leaves were of the highest quality.

Fondant! Fondant!

I’m in the mood, so I added two sugar cubes.

“Professor Jerez.”

Then I heard a low, toneless voice.

“Kuck…… kuck, kuck…… kuck, Professor Cladian.”

Cladian wordlessly held out a napkin and sat down across from him.

Jerez wiped the corner of my mouth with his napkin. He’d been a professor at Sienia for five years, and I still broke out in a cold sweat whenever I saw him.

“I didn’t quite understand you when you were acting so cranky before the commencement ceremony, but today I see why.”

“It’s ……?”

I gulped.

Without answering, Cladian took a sip of her tea, which was sugar-free and milk-free.

I could have just eaten that…….

“I know. I saw it in person today and coveted it too.”

“……!”

Wow!

Without warning, Lorne appeared behind Claedian, wrapped his arm around her shoulders, and chewed on a piece of brown sugar.

“Get your hands off of me, Lorne. I’m telling you again, this is the Academy, not the Templars, and you don’t get to do as you please.”

“I’m used to it by now, but you’re still cold, my professor.”

Lorne held up his hands lazily, and sat down hard beside Cladian.

“You two…… Nigel, you mean.”

“Ugh.”

Rone folded her eyes into half moons.

“Oh, right. Cladian, I heard you were trying to talk that Jerez kid into switching to the political science department today.”

“That’s ……?”

“Don’t worry too much about it, Jerez, I only told her once because she’s a waste of talent.”

You think that’s easier said than done, Professor?

“……Yes.”

If Professor Cladian cares.

“Too bad, because I would have gone right for you.”

Rone pushed my face close to Cladian’s.

Thud.

“Shut up, and don’t talk to me like I’m the only one, Lorne.”

Without hesitation, Cladian slapped Lorne’s face, so close he could have touched it.

“You don’t mean to tell me that Professor Lorne is also……?”

“Uh, she’s got a good head on her shoulders, which is exactly why she’s a tactician.”

“I heard he was rejected to his face.”

“Come on, that goes for you too, Cladian.”

“At least she didn’t say she wasn’t interested in politics like she told you.”

“Well, it’s possible he’s less interested as time goes on. Oh, and I wasn’t talking to you, of course, so don’t take that the wrong way, Dean.”

“……Please, do me a favor and stop with the bullshit.”

Hey……, that’s my kid, and can you save your love fights for after work……?

It wasn’t for nothing that the students were rumoring that they were dating.

Seeing the fiery look in their eyes, Jerez quietly got up from his seat.

“Ehhh…….”

No more free refreshments in the break room this year. No.

***]

It was around seven o’clock, after dinner time.

At the top of the West Wing, with the large bell announcing the time of the Academy, the Student Council Room of the Faculty of Magic.

Nigel was currently standing here, having been told that after dinner, all new students of each faculty would be required to assemble in the Student Council Chambers of their respective faculties.

“If you’re old enough, can you just call a meeting on the day?

Trust be damned, Noah Vesselion wouldn’t even speak to me unless Nigel spoke to him first.

“I’m risking my life right now.

Nigel crossed his arms and looked at the student council officers standing at the front of the room.

“Nigel, why do you think they called us?”

Allen whispered, smirking.

“I don’t know. If they’re going to stand there smirking like that, it’s got to be funny.”

“Why, it’s funny, and if we’re not the only ones, and all the other freshmen were called to the student council room, there must be something to it.”

Allen said firmly.

“Mr. President, all freshmen are present.”

A nod.

Standing in the center of the room, a boy with dark green hair that resembled the evening forest, cocked his head and opened his mouth.

“First of all, I apologize for announcing this meeting so abruptly during the meal. I’m Oliver, a third year, and I’m the student council president of the School of Witchcraft and Wizardry.”

Boom!

The student council officer began to clap vigorously, and the first years nervously followed suit.

“First of all, before we get down to business, if you have any questions about life at the Academy, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Several people raised their hands at that.

“Uh, sure. Let’s start with the red-haired girl in the left corner, shall we?”

“If we’re going to be doing more activities together as a department, why are we so inefficiently dividing the colors of our uniforms by grade?”

“It’s my year, so that’s a good first question.”

Oliver chuckled.

“Just four years ago, until then, we had different uniform colors for different faculties: blue for us, green for politics, and red for swordsmanship. But that year, our senior punished a student who wore a red uniform, and the two of them ended up going to the temple together, so the next year, the uniform colors were changed by grade, just like now.”

“What……? What’s that…….?”

“In a nutshell, they fought to the death, got half-dead, and were carried to the temple together.”

The girl to Oliver’s right replied in a breezy voice.

“Ah…… ahh…….”

“That should answer enough questions, right? What next?”

This time, more students raised their hands than the first time.

“Uh, the blond boy with glasses over there.”

“He’s in the same academy, and I don’t know why he doesn’t want to get along with the other faculties, like he did at the pre-prom party.”

A few students nodded.

“Well…… after all, the kids in our faculty are just as sweet and nice. Of course they are. One of the student government officers here dated another undergrad, but it didn’t last more than a semester because the other girl couldn’t handle his personality.”

“Dude, why are you bringing that up?!”

“Yeah, you’re right, it’s good for students from the same academy to get along, but…”

His smiling face turned sour.

“This is a more fundamental issue. The student who asked the question, what’s your name?”

“Tom.”

“Well, nice to meet you, Tom. Tom, do you think that our School of Magic is inferior to the School of Swordsmanship or the School of Politics?”

“Of course not.”

“That’s right, all of us proud Imperial Sienese students think so. How about that, does that answer your question?”

“…….”

“Then let’s get to the point. Although Sienia did away with undergraduate grades more than a decade ago for promoting conflict, we unofficially grade by department.”

Dumbfounded.

Oliver lifted a half-word thick book from the desk.

“Magic, politics, and swordsmanship, according to this rule book, a consensus of the three faculty student councils.”

“I…… but why are you doing this?”

A student hesitated, then spoke up.

“Because it’s fun, right?”

Oliver replied without hesitation.

“It’s …… interesting.”

Nigel muttered blankly.

“Oh, by the way. Nigel As?”

“……?”

Nigel’s eyes widened slightly at Oliver’s sudden call.

“I hope I didn’t hear myself.

“I’ve been hearing all day…… that Professor Ancredian praised you in class, is that true?”

“Yes…….”

This place is so damn big, and the rumor mill is so fast?

Nigel muttered to himself.

Mate. Mate. Pair.

The students clapped along to Oliver’s impromptu applause.

pair…… pair…….

Soon the clapping died down.

“Congratulations. Compliments in other faculty members’ classes are worth one point, but you’re the only one who’s worth two points.”

“Oh, yeah.”

I wasn’t surprised anymore.